Sports this 'n' that

When softball sectional play started yesterday, the hometown had 4 teams in the running. Today, we're down to 2.

In Class A, Catholic Central's season came to a crashing end, as the Lady Crusaders got a peek into their Colonial Council future, and it's not a good one. Mohonasen, which is headed to the Colonial Council in the fall, blanked CCHS, 10-0.

In Class B, in a game contested at Russell Sage College's field, Emma Willard was eliminated by Bishop Gibbons, as the latter earned their first ever softball sectional victory. Bishop Gibbons now goes on to play top-seeded Ichabod Crane tomorrow. Also tomorrow, Lansingburgh travels to Scotia in a Class A game, and Troy, winners of 5 in a row, will play Shenendehowa.

Meanwhile, in baseball sectionals, the Class B semi-finals are now set, as Wednesday's double-header in Gloversville sees Ichabod Crane take on Hudson, and, in a rematch of last year's championship game, Albany Academy meets Saratoga Central Catholic. Academy completed a 3-game season sweep of Schalmont, 8-2, while Ichabod Crane blew out Tamarac, SCC beat Schuylerville, and Hudson beat Ravena.

The Class A quarterfinals are scheduled for today, but with rain in the forecast for much of the afternoon, it is doubtful they'll be able to get anything in. We'll just have to wait & see.
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Now, here's something I don't get.

The NBA's San Antonio Spurs decided Monday to disband their cheerleading team, effective immediately, in favor of a 35-piece, family friendly, co-ed hype team.

SAY WHAT?

If Yahoo! is to be believed, this is a delayed response to reports that some of the Washington Trumpets' luxury box tenants got to see a video of the Trumpets' cheerleaders going topless in Costa Rica. The two issues aren't actually related, but with the #MeToo movement still gaining traction, there are some nervous suits in San Antonio. The Spurs' dance team aren't happy with this abrupt decision, and, as a result of this knee-jerk decision, the Spurs' ownership gets Weasel ears.
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When it was decided a few years ago that NBC-Universal would have the rights to both Monday Night Raw & Smackdown, it was clear that WWE CEO/Chairman Vince McMahon wanted all of his eggs in one basket, if you will.

Not anymore.

After USA Network agreed to a megabucks deal to keep Raw, while dumping Smackdown, effective in the 2019-20 season, WWE agreed to a similar deal with Fox to move Smackdown back to a broadcast channel, but also move the show back to Friday nights, where it aired from 2005 until Syfy moved the show back to Thursday nights before shifting to its current live format on Tuesdays 2 years ago. With McMahon, it has always been more about the money than the quality of the product.

My take: McMahon is also looking for a broadcast partner for the revived XFL, to return in 2020, and may have worked a secondary deal that we don't yet know about with Fox. It's being reported that Smackdown would be repurposed on FS1 on Saturday nights, and various WWE personalities would also be guests on Fox NFL Sunday, with likely crossovers going the other way as well. Stay tuned.
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So, like, Johnny Football is headed to Canada, eh?

Yes, Johnny Manziel is trying to revive his career after a 2-year crash & burn in Cleveland. Manziel has signed with Hamilton of the CFL, the latest in a string of NFL players continuing their careers in the "great white north", yet without getting attendant press coverage at home. If he flops here, we can call him Johnny Hoser, eh?